But this should not be a random thing. You need to know when to share, what to share and which tools can help you, and that’s what I’m going to show you today!

When should you share a Twitter image?

When we see the statistics above it’s easy to think we should share a photo with every tweet. This isn’t a bad policy as long as you ensure that each photo you share is of good quality and will appeal to your target market.

Think about images that will enhance your tweets before falling into the trap of sharing cat memes.

Here’s some ideas:

Sharing images with Links

Even if you are curating content it’s a good idea to share images with your links for more interaction.

Look at this example from Co-Schedule, the chart tempts readers to click the link.

Co-Schedule are using images to help promote content.

Try using one of these 4 Twitter image types when sharing your next link:

o

An image from the article you are sharing (see Twitshot below)

o

A screen cap of the webpage you are sharing

o

A quote from the post turned into an image (see PullQuote below)

o

An image with the title of your blog post overlaid (see WordSwag and Pablo below)

Sharing what is happening now

Twitter is a real time network, people see your tweets as they happen. This immediacy makes Twitter the ideal place to share what is happening now. You can share snippets from your day or as in this example from Dublin City Council use it to promote the run up to an event.

Dublin City Council used Twitter images to promote the St. Patrick’s Day festival

Quotes

Love them or hate them Inspirational quotes can make powerful content. When people see a quote that resonates with them they share it. Choose your quotes carefully and create attractive images to accompany them and you will maximise the sharing potential of your posts.

Look at this recent post from Hubspot. It’s nice to look at and resonates with the reader.

A more simple approach is to share an inspirational image along with a quote. This is the approach Tamara McCleary has taken here.

Show off your product or skill

If it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words we can squeeze far more into our tweets than the 140 character limit just by adding a photo.

Robert Bohan Artist shows off his skill with this simple sketch. It encourages me to click and find out more.

Robert Bohan uses Twitter images to show off samples of your work.

The sunshine in this set of images from Nick Ellison captured my attention. It encouraged me to read the tweet about his aerial photography service.

Nick Ellison uses Twitter images to show off one of his services.

Meet The Staff

Social media becomes a cold place when we hide behind our logos. Human beings respond well to seeing photos of other human beings. It also reminds users that there is a person behind the tweets. Whether it’s a selfie or a picture of staff, putting a face to a brand can help people make that personal connection.

Bob recommends clustering the strong elements of your image in one area. Strong elements can include faces or text.

5 tools for creating Twitter images

Creating quality images for your tweets can take time. If you want to share more photos but are short on time these tools will help.

Twitshot

Twitshot captures images from links, and adds them to your Tweets. It’s really easy to use. Just compose your tweet and add your link. Twitshot will offer you a selection of images from the post, select the one you want to use and click ‘Tweet’.

Twit shot allows you to select an image from the article you are tweeting to share with your tweet.

There’s a Twitshot iOS app that lets you do the same thing from your mobile device.

Pablo

Choose your photo from their bank of images or upload your own, add text, choose a font and you have a picture ready to share. You can either download the finished image or share it straight away.

Create Twitter images quickly and easily with Pablo

If you use this tool I’d recommend uploading your own images. We are going to start seeing a lot of these pictures in our Twitter feeds and the stock images will soon become familiar to tweeters. Adding your own picture will ensure your content will look fresh.